Local aerospace employment will jump upward again because of the LEAP engine program.

The LEAP (Leading Edge Aviation Propulsion) engine was developed by CFM International, a 50-50 joint venture between GE Aviation and Snecma of France.

In 2010, Woodward Inc. won its largest aerospace contract ever to develop and supply the fuel system, air management and actuation hardware for the LEAP, which will be used on the France's Airbus A320neo, China's Comac C919 and Chicago's Boeing 737.

That contract helped convince Woodward officials that they needed more manufacturing space. Now the company is building a more than 440,000-square-foot, $300 million new manufacturing campus in Loves Park with plans to double the local workforce of 1,400 in the next 10 years.

The LEAP engine also is helping GE Aviation expand its Loves Park operations at 1354 Clifford Ave. We reported yesterday that the company is doubling its space in the 453,600-square-foot plant, going from about 75,000 square feet to 151,921.

Kelly Walsh, a GE spokesman, emailed some more details about the expansion.

Walsh said the company now employs 196 at the former Barber-Colman plant, which GE shares with Invensys Eurotherm and Schneider Electric. Thirty-four of those employees were added in 2013.

GE Aviation invested $1.7 million in capital equipment in 2013 and plans to spend $3.2 million this year.

Much of the new equipment will be two produce two new products, both regulating valves for the LEAP-1A and LEAP-1C Nacelle Anti Ice System. The LEAP 1A is for Airbus and the LEAP-1C is for Comac.

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